


The Festive Bake-Off

by Gnomecat



Category: Homeland
Genre: Advent Calendar 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 06:30:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12906144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gnomecat/pseuds/Gnomecat
Summary: Carrie and Quinn compete in a festive baking competition to decide who gets to make the dessert for Christmas dinner at Maggie’s house.Who will win?Posted for Advent Calendar 2017 on December4th





	The Festive Bake-Off

**Author's Note:**

> This is a standalone story, but if you have read my story ‘Stronger’ then this also works as Chapter 7. 
> 
> I kept it separate because you don’t need to have read Stronger to read this. All you need to know is:
> 
> It’s set after Season 4. Quinn didn’t leave, Carrie and Quinn got together (duh!) and this is the first Christmas after that. 
> 
>  
> 
> Huge thanks and love to both elim_garak and NikitaSunshine for your friendship and encouragement. :-)
> 
>  
> 
> Happy holidays everyone!

_Early December_

 

#Deck the halls with boughs of holly. Falalalala-la-la-la-la.# Quinn hummed to himself as he walked downstairs and into the kitchen. He was feeling in a very Christmassy mood. Carrie had been on the phone to Maggie for the past hour and in that time he had been searching for Christmas presents online and been quite successful. Now that the laughter had stopped he was curious to find out what she was up to. She was sitting at the kitchen table looking through photos from their October vacation on her laptop. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, kissed her cheek and smiled at the photos as they scrolled by on the screen. “Hey, what are you up to?”

“Hi!” She turned her head slightly to smile at him and raised her hands up to touch his arms. “I’m trying to decide on a photo to put on a holiday card.”

“A holiday card?” He unwrapped his arms and pulled out a chair next to her.

“Yes, Maggie suggested it. She sends a photo card out every year and she thought this year it would be nice for me to send one out too. To our relatives and to some of dad’s friends…just to….. I don’t know… keep in touch I guess. Apparently they all want to see more of Franny. I’m not sure about it though. What do you think?”

“It sounds like a nice idea.” He frowned, trying to remember if he had ever sent a Christmas card to anyone. Definitely not since school. “What are your options?”

“Here are my ideas so far. I was going to ask for your opinion though.” Carrie clicked to a new folder labelled ‘Card ideas’ which had three photos copied into it.  “Ok. This first photo was Maggie’s idea, not mine, I think she’s still a little bit obsessed…”

It was the Halloween photo of them dressed as Lizzy and Mr Darcy. “Uhh…” He tried to think of something to say. He loved the photo, and the memory, but the idea of it being printed on a card and sent to people he didn’t know was a little embarrassing. “I like it but it’s from Halloween… this is Christmas.”

“I know, I know….” Carrie had already moved on to the next image. A photo Maggie had taken of the three of them outside their house on the day Carrie and Franny had moved in with him. “I like this one, it was a special day, but look at my clothes and my face. I look hot and sweaty.”

“You don’t. You look perfect. It’s a great photo of a great day” he assured her.

“Hmm, ok, this is the third option.” The third photo was from their vacation, the one the older couple had taken of them standing next to the Ducklings statue in the park in Boston. Their arms wrapped around each other, hugging Franny between them, and wide smiles on each of their faces.

“Oh.” He was flustered for a second. He loved that photo. It was the first photo taken of the three of them and was very special. It was the wallpaper on his phone and had become a sort of touchstone for him. He looked at it in moments where he began to feel stressed and it always calmed him down. He didn’t hesitate. “I like that one. Go for that.”

She looked relieved and his heart skipped a little. “I’m glad. I wanted that one too.”

He smiled and leaned over and wrapped his arms around her again.

 

 

After a few moments she pulled away slightly. “Maggie is putting up her Christmas decorations today. I thought we could make a start on our house. Do you want to go out and get a tree?”

“Definitely!” He felt a glimmer of excitement. That was another first. It had been many years since he had decorated a Christmas tree.

“One more thing, Maggie invited us to their house for Christmas day. Do you want to do that or do you want it to be just us here?”

“Uh…” he scrutinised her face, looking for a clue to the right answer. “What do you want to do?”

She paused and seemed to do the same thing right back to him. “I guess I would quite like to go to Maggie’s” she admitted. “We could spend the morning here and then go to her house for lunch. She does the best turkey dinner. And we won’t get stuck with cleaning the dishes! You don’t mind do you?”

“Of course not.”

“Great. She wanted us to make the dessert though.”

“You mean _buy_ the dessert.”

“She did say that, but no. I want to make it.”

She looked very serious and he laughed. “Very funny. You almost had me fooled there.”

“Hey!” she crossed her arms. “What are you saying? You like my tuna pasta bake right? I’m sure I could make something sweet too if I tried.”

“Oh!” he stopped laughing in surprise. “You were being serious?!”

“Yes! How hard can it be? Recipes are easy. It’s just following instructions!”

He couldn’t stop himself and laughed again. “You? Follow instructions? Uh Carrie..”

She hit him on the arm and then turned back to her computer screen and clicked open an email from Maggie. “Maggie showed me this.” She turned the screen slightly to show him a recipe. “It’s a Chocolate Yule Log cake. It looks yummy.”

He looked closely. “Mmm that looks delicious- just like a giant Ho-Ho. It also looks simple to make so that’s perfect.”

That earned him another smack on the arm.

“I’d like to see you try your hand at baking” she huffed with her arms crossed.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m just being realistic Carrie. I’ve never baked a cake in my life either.  But I think it’s a great idea and you should definitely do it.”

The more he thought about it though, the more he liked the idea. He imagined them baking together in their kitchen, Christmas music playing in the background and the smell of the cake cooking. He imagined dipping his finger in the bowl of warm chocolate and...

“Hey!” He looked up as she waved her hand across his face. “What are you smiling about now?” She asked, with a frown still on her face.

“Why don’t we work together? With my ability to follow instructions, and your….uh…” his brain raced to find a suitable flattering statement, “…your creative flair, I’m sure we could make something amazing together.”

“I’m sure we could.” He watched curiously as her pout began to give way to reveal a small smile. It slowly spread over her face and turned into an expression he knew all too well: the competitive Carrie look. “I have an even better idea. Why don’t we have a bake off competition to find out which one of us can make the best Yule Log cake. The winner gets to make the actual Christmas day dessert. Are you up for the challenge?” There was a mischievous glint in her eye as she raised her eyebrows and put her head to one side.

That was the last thing he expected her to say and it was slightly worrying.  Challenges proposed by Carrie rarely ended well for him (except maybe once). “Uhh..” he stalled for thinking time.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little competition? Are you afraid to discover something you’re _not_ good at?”

“No, absolutely not. I already told you I’m great at following instructions. What could go wrong? Aren’t you worried my cake will be better?”

“Not in a million years. I’ve seen your messy handwriting. You couldn’t decorate a cake to save your life.”

Her enthusiasm was infectious and he began to feel even more excited about the idea. “Ok, sure. Challenge accepted.” He shook her outstretched hand. “But we don’t really have any baking equipment here…”

Carrie grabbed her phone and tapped out a long message. “Just writing to Maggie…”

The phone pinged back instantly. “Great! Maggie is happy for us to use her kitchen. Let’s go!”

 

_An hour later. Maggie’s house._

 

The first thing they saw when they arrived at Maggie’s house was Bill balanced precariously on a ladder hanging up lights in the front yard. Maggie, Josie and Ruby were directing his every move. Maggie greeted them with a smile. “Hi guys, this sounds fun! But remember- don’t make a mess of my kitchen! This isn’t an excuse to lumber me with the cleaning right?”

“Of course not!” Carrie smiled sweetly.

The inside of the house was already decorated with lights and streamers everywhere. He could see the large Christmas tree twinkling in the corner of the family room. It smelled like pine and there were pine needles everywhere. It had been a long time since he had been surrounded by so much festivity and he couldn’t wait to get home and decorate their own house. 

“I’ll leave you to it. I need to make sure Bill doesn’t break his neck on that damn ladder and then clean up all these pine needles. Carrie- the Christmas stuff you were asking about is in that box. Yell if you need anything.”

 

Carrie moved around the kitchen pulling bowls and spoons out of the cupboards while he unpacked the ingredients from the shopping bag and set them up on the table. “Let’s get started!” She delved into the cardboard box and handed him an apron with the body of a reindeer printed on it. “Here’s Bill’s special Christmas apron!” He cautiously put it around his neck. “And here…” Carrie reached into the box again. “…are the antlers to go with it.”

“Uh no…”

“Come on you have to wear them! Get into the Christmas spirit. I’m wearing this!” Carrie’s apron had Mrs Claus on it. She put a Santa hat on her head and then moved over and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his cheek.

He hugged her back. “I didn’t realise you were so into Christmas” he murmured into her ear, kissing her neck.

“I just like reindeer!” She whispered and he laughed.

She pulled away. “Let the battle commence! I’ll just find some appropriate music.”

She attached her phone to the speakers and pressed play. #I don’t want a lot for Christmas…#

He grimaced and jokingly put his hands over his ears. “Not this song. Please! I thought this was meant to be fun?!”

“It’s a classic! #I don't care about the presents...# Oh!”  Carrie began to sing along… badly and he grabbed her and silenced her with a kiss.

 

“No more distractions, let’s get going.” Carrie pulled away and they each moved to different sides of the kitchen island. He checked the recipe again. It really didn’t look too difficult. Step 1. Whisk the eggs and sugar. He grabbed a hand whisk, the kind he remembered his grandmother using, and saw Carrie reach for the electric whisk.

“That’s the lazy way” he admonished her.

“The clever way” she corrected.

But it was harder than it looked. In no time at all Carrie’s bowl was completely filled with a fluffy sugary egg mixture. No matter how hard he whisked his bowl just didn’t look as good. After a moment’s consideration he decided he wasn’t afraid to admit defeat. “Ok hand me the electric whisk.” He held out his hand.

“Hand action not good enough eh?” She smiled.

“I guess I’m out of practise recently.”

“I guess so!” She raised her eyebrows and handed over the whisk.

 

They were both making the same thing but with slightly different flavours. He added a pinch of cinnamon and mixed spices to his but otherwise he was keeping it classic chocolate flavour. He shook his head when she began grating an orange into her mixture. She raised her eyebrows. “We’ll see which one tastes the best!”

Their cake mixtures went into the oven at the same time.

“Whatever can we get up to for 10 minutes?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“We could tidy up…” He said straight faced, waving a hand over the mess they had created.

“I don’t think so….” She moved towards him and backed him against the fridge. “Everyone is outside…”

 

The timer went off and they pulled apart. Both cakes looked very similar, but he noted with disappointment that Carrie’s one looked slightly better than his did.

He watched as Carrie tried to roll her cake into shape while it was hot. “Nooo, it’s cracked!” She cried in despair. He hid a small smile, but not well enough.

“Don’t laugh!” She threw a spoon at him and he dodged it. “Hey!”

“It’s all about patience.” He fanned his cake and then waited a few moments before trying to roll it up too. It also cracked. “Fuck!”

“Haha, not as easy as it looks!” She smirked.

He threw a small square of chocolate at her. She retaliated by flinging a spoonful of icing sugar at him. A direct hit. He felt the sugary substance settle all over him. “Carrie! Focus!”

 

With Christmas music blaring in the background, they worked in concentrated and competitive silence as they decorated their creations. The recipe made it look so easy but it was actually much harder than it looked. He scrutinised the neat cake in the recipe photo and compared it to his own. There was no comparison and he couldn’t help but smile. Crap, it looked terrible! He had been trying not to look at Carrie’s but sneaked a glance now. Her cake looked just as terrible and she had a similar expression on her face.

“Shit!” She said as she looked over to his messy brown log shaped creation. “They both look like…”

“…Shit!” he finished her sentence.

They both laughed.

“You look just as messy!” She kept laughing. “You’re covered in chocolate!”

“You too!” She looked a complete sight with icing sugar making her hair stand on end and chocolate all over her apron and face.

“C’mere” He pulled her close and pushed her hair away from her face, leaving a new streak of chocolate on her forehead. He kissed her. “Mmm you taste sweet!”

“Are you almost finished, are they reading for tasting… oh sorry.. Woah, wait! What have you done to my kitchen!” Maggie yelped as she walked in the kitchen and saw the mess.

They jumped apart. “Ready!”

 

Maggie carried their creations one at a time into the family room where Bill and the girls were waiting. She placed them on separate pieces of paper marked A or B and they waited impatiently as they all took their time tasting each cake.

“Mmmm!” Ruby shouted enthusiastically, her mouth full of cake. “I like both of them!”

“Yummy!” Josie grabbed another slice of each.

“But which one is best?” Carrie tapped her foot impatiently.

“Watch out. She’s quite competitive.” Maggie affectionately poked Carrie on the arm.

“I’ve noticed! She already threw a spoon at me to try to take me out of the competition.”

“I wasn’t aiming for you, I was aiming next to you.” Carrie defended herself.

 “Have you ever tried to play a board game with her? It’s a family tradition for us to play Monopoly every Christmas but if it goes wrong the pieces go everywhere. You should have seen the scene last Christmas day. I was still finding monopoly houses in the carpet in mid-January!”

“That stupid ‘Go to Jail’ card! If I hadn’t got dealt that at that moment…” Carrie scowled, the perceived injustice clearly still fresh in her mind.

“Perhaps I’ll buy you a hard hat or some body armour in anticipation for this year’s Christmas games.” Maggie smiled at him.

“Hah” he laughed, but rubbed Carrie’s arm affectionately. ”Ok, I’m almost afraid to ask now but I’m curious too. Which one was best?”

Everyone scribbled their choice- either A or B, down on a piece of paper.

“Ok, time to reveal!” Maggie did a drum roll on her knees. “You first Josie.”

“I voted for this one!” Josie turned over her piece of paper and pointed to his cake. It was ridiculous but he began to feel very excited.

“No! This one.” Ruby pointed to Carrie’s.

“I have to say…..” Bill dragged out his words, “…I agree with Ruby.” He turned over his piece of paper.

All eyes turned to Maggie- the head judge. “Um. It was a difficult decision…They were both very nice. But if I think about the texture, the sweetness, the flavour, the presentation….”

“Get on with it Maggie!” Carrie interrupted.

“Ok that one.” She turned over her paper and also pointed to Carrie’s cake. “The victor at 3 to 1! Whose was it?”

Carrie’s face told it all, even before she had jumped up and punched the air. “I win! Screw you Quinn! I told you I could bake! Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go and feed Franny and then, wow look at the time, it’s getting really late and we still need to go out and buy our own Christmas tree.”

 “Woah woah, not so fast. You’re not leaving here without cleaning my kitchen!” Maggie warned.

“Losers do the washing up, everyone knows that! And Franny is hungry. Duty calls!” Carrie skipped out the door and ran upstairs with Franny.

 

 

He sighed and rolled his sleeves up. “Leave it to me.”

“I’ll help.” Maggie helped him carry the plates back to the kitchen. “I loved your cake too.” She nudged him with her elbow as they stood together at the sink.

“Thanks, but even I have to admit Carrie’s was better” he said.

“It was a very close call though. I think the orange in Carrie’s one really gave it a distinctive flavour.”

“Right….” He detected something subtle in her tone which made him suddenly remember that Maggie had helped Carrie choose her recipe. He frowned and turned to look at her as she continued speaking.

“They were very comparable, but when I considered everything- the taste, the presentation…. the fact I didn’t want chocolate cake thrown all over my carpet....!”

“Maggie!” he admonished, flicking soap suds at her. “What are you trying to say?!”

“Nothing, nothing!” Maggie was laughing and held up her hands. “Nothing at all!” They dissolved into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Carrie’s voice from the doorway caused them both to whirl around in surprise. He was well aware of the guilty look on his face. “Nothing. Private joke.”

“Well then. I was going to offer my help but seeing as though you guys are having so much fun cleaning I’ll leave you to it!” Carrie stomped back up the stairs and they dissolved into laughter again.

 

 

As they left the house he pulled Carrie close. “I liked your cake the best” he whispered in her ear.

“Thanks!” She snuggled closer to him. “I liked mine best too so it was 5 to 1! Ha ha!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Deck the Halls Falalalala-la-la-la-la’ (from the first line) has been stuck in my head since I first read it in elim_garak's Advent Calendar story 'What Was Lost' (Chapter 3) so that’s why I added it here. Thanks for that EG! :-)
> 
> I asked NikitaSunshine about Swiss roll/Yule logs to check they were a universally recognised dessert (important research!) and she was the one who told me about Ho-hos. I don't think they are sold here in the UK. So thanks for the info K/BB/NS. :-)


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